This Chapter was inspired by the episode of OUAT when Regina was seen interacting with Snow White as her Step-Mother. It was the scene when Regina imagined herself telling Snow what revealing her and Daniel's secret had caused, and then choking her. Here is my perspective on what could've been going through her head during that scene .

Chapter 2: White as Snow

What a beautiful little girl. So, cheerful and care free. So Kind, so pure, and some would even say... INNOCENT. Regina made a face of disgust as the thought of Snow White being perceived as innocent crossed her mind while she brushed the little girl's hair. Innocent. Innocent? Regina snickered to herself while detangling the nots from Snow's hair with a comb. Innocent people didn't going around telling other people's secrets. Innocent people didn't go around breaking people's trust, and innocent people didn't have the blood of her true love on their hands. Innocent? 'I think not', Regina thought. She had a 'matter of factly' look on her face. Sure, Snow was only a little girl, but she was surely old enough to understand the simple concept of how to keep a secret. It was simple. Keep your mouth shut. Regina winced at the thought of just how much the telling of that secret had cost her. It had been nearly 3 weeks since her mother killed Daniel, and the image of her mother's hand in his chest with his eyes widened in pain still haunted her every time she was alone. Every night, the image of her lying over Daniel's lifeless body burned in her mind.

She hit a snag in Snow's hair with the comb, and she paused and looked the hand that she held the comb in. She glanced at it, and at the enormous ring that was sparkling on her forefinger. The sight of it made Regina's stomach turn. The ring that Daniel had given her was so much more simple. It had just been a simple gold band, but it meant so much more to her than the huge diamond that had been forcefully placed on her finger. Regina was so relieved that Cora never saw the ring that Daniel had given her. If she had, there would be no way that she would've allowed her to keep it. Thinking about it made Regina's look of disgust turn into a small smile. Daniel had wanted to marry her. He wanted her to run away with him and take her away from her mother's controlling grasp. Although they'd only had a few minutes to spend together as an engaged couple, both of them had already talked about what their future together would hold. They were going take 2 horses from the stable, and leave in the middle of the night. The would ride as fast, and for as long as they could without looking back, in efforts to get as far away from the castle as they possibly could. They would then find a village, and hopefully find a kind family that would be nice enough to allow them to stay in their home. At least until Daniel was able to find a job, and could afford a place of their own. Regina didn't want a big house, although Daniel promised her that he would buy the best house that money could buy. But Regina reassured him. Money, Big Homes, Diamonds…..none of them meant anything to her. She would have been satisfied with nothing but their 2 horses, and a haystack to sleep on just as long as it was his arms that were around her every night. Daniel had made her feel so happy, and so loved. Nothing that anyone could ever promise her would be enough to make her leave him. What they had was nothing short of pure. It was true love at it's best. Regina was pulled out of her thoughts as she reached another snag in Snow's hair and the little girl shrieked out in pain.

"Oooouchhh!, you're hurting me mother!" Snow yelled.

Regina winced again in irritation from hearing Snow call her mother. Sure, she was married to the king, but she would never be this little girl's mother. Yes, she had saved her life less than a year ago, but that didn't mean that she cared enough for her to be her MOTHER. Of course she had saved her. Any decent human being would have saved a cute little 10 year old girl who was screaming for her life on an uncontrollable horse. She wasn't heartless…. at least, she wasn't then. However, at this point in time, Regina thought about what the result of that good deed was and she wished that she had just let that horse take the little girl away to wherever it was headed. If she hadn't been trying to be such a good samaritan, she wouldn't be sitting in this prison, (or castle. However you want to see it). She wouldn't be married to the horrible king that had forced himself on her every night, and Daniel wouldn't be dead. Because of that one good deed, the hope of a happy future was ripped completely away from Regina. And she was supposed to be this girl's loving MOTHER? 'I think not', Regina thought. It would practically be a slap in Daniel's face for her to love and nurture the same little girl that had told their secret, which resulted in his murder, and the instant ending of their future together. No. She would never be a mother to this little girl. She would never care for her, and she would certainly never love her. Cora had never shown Regina a mother's love. She had only ever shown her discipline and harshness. The closest that Regina had ever gotten to knowing what true love is, was the love that radiated through her when she was with Daniel.

'Daniel', Regina thought as her eyes became heavy with tears.

Thinking of Daniel again, Regina didn't even notice that she was beginning to comb Snow's hair even harder. She was no longer carefully detangling the nots from the 'perfect' little girl's hair, but she was now unknowingly (but angrily) raking through it. Regina felt her face become hot as her thoughts went back to Snow White being the cause of her future of unhappiness.

"Ouuuuchhh!" Snow cried out again. "Mommy, please. You're hurting me. Can you please comb it a little gentler?".

Snow's eyes were now filled with tears from the knot that felt like Regina had just combed out a fist full of hair in just one stroke. Regina glanced in the mirror at herself and Snow. Her face held a smirk, which she intended to appear as a smile.

"I'm sorry dear. But look, it appears that you're all done. Just in time for the ball", Regina said.

Snow's teary face almost instantly turned into a smile as she thought about the night ahead of her. This would be her first ball, and more importantly, the first ball that she would attend with her new mother. She loved Regina, and she was so excited that the sweet woman that had saved her life was going to be her new mom. She couldn't have been happier. Her eyes gleamed with excitement as she spoke.

"Thank you so much mother. It looks beaaaaauuutiful." Snow said as she looked in the mirror and ran her fingers through her long, freshly done hair.

She especially loved the white and light blue ribbons that her mother had put in her hair to match her blue dress and white shoes. She turned back to Regina again, happiness radiating through her.

"Aren't you excited about the ball mother?" Snow was grinning from ear to ear with a disturbing twinkle in her eye.

Regina felt sudden urge to slap Snow after hearing her question.

She wanted to tell her, 'No you stupid girl. I am not excited about the ball. Why would I be excited about a ball that will be celebrating my marriage to man that I hate, and by the way, barely even know. Annnnd celebrating my adoption of a little girl that I never even wanted. The same little girl that is responsible for the murder of the only person in my life that has ever truly loved and made me happy. This ball will also be an excuse for your disgusting father to get drunk, and violate me in our bed chamber until he's satisfied.'

Regina shuttered at the thought of what would happen to her that night when the king walks into their bed chamber. No. She was CERTAINLY not excited about the ball.

"Yes sweetheart", Regina said with the most fake smile she could put on. "I'm very excited about the ball".

Snow looked at her mother with a smile, satisfaction in her eyes.

"I'm so happy", Snow said. "Tonight will be great. I just know it".

With that, Snow skipped away to her room, grinning from ear to ear with her long curls bouncing against her back. When she was gone, Regina let out a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. It took everything that she had in those moments not to tell Snow what she had done to Daniel, and then choke the life out of her. She studied her features in the mirror. It had only been 3 weeks since Daniel had been killed and she was forced to marry Snow's father, but she could already tell by the lines on her face and the dullness in her eyes that she had aged. This false marriage, and this life was surely taking it's toll on Regina. She was tired…. all the time. Many people would find it hard to believe that the queen could ever be tired. She was the queen. She had maids, and butlers, and servants who would come at the snap of her fingers to do anything she pleased. She didn't have to raise a finger to do any work at all. That's what it meant to be royalty. But despite what many people probably preconceived about royals, Regina felt more tired than she had ever felt in her life. Being constantly violated by a man that she didn't love, having to look daily into the face of the girl that was responsible for the death of her true love, and being constantly bombarded with the the expectations that her mother had for her to make it appear like she was happy, was all exhausting. Regina stepped closer to look at her hair. Was… was that a grey hair starting to form? Regina's eyes widened as she got as close to the mirror as she could while holding the strand of hair up to her face.

This was all wearing her down way too much. She wan't sure how long she could handle this for. How long could she keep up this charade of smiling and being the Kings wonderful new wife when everyday, she was slowly dying inside. The Regina that held Daniel near when he was still alive had died that day with him in the stable, but with all that was happening to her in this castle, especially with her 'relationship' with the king, she could even feel the new Regina that she was becoming beginning to loose her will to live. Even without her heart beating in her chest, it was too much to bear. Her mind drifted to what the king would have in store for her that night. She let out a hard breath as tears began to flow from her eyes. She brought a hand to her stomach, and the other leaned on the dresser as she made an attempt to hold herself up. She had been pure before she was forced to wed the king. Although she longed for intimacy with Daniel that was stronger than their kisses and whispers of love, they both knew that the consequences of Cora catching them would most likely be deadly. So instead of having her first physically intimate encounter with the man that she loved, it was with an arrogant, forceful man that had not even considered the fact that she might be afraid on their wedding night. It never even crossed his mind that she reason that she was trembling as he kissed her, was not out of her excitement and anticipation for what was to come, but it was out of terror. Cora didn't even have the decency to prepare Regina for what would occur on her wedding night. No.

All she told her was to "smile, and keep the king happy".

That was her mother's advice to her. That was all that she had to say. Just thinking about it caused Regina to tremble again, just as she had that night. That night had been both physically, and mentally painful. She thought back to how she heard the king constantly whispering the name of his first wife against her shoulder as he took the only innocence that she had left. Yes she had already hated him, but it felt like a kick in the stomach to Regina to be feeling so much pain, and for him to clearly not even be acknowledging that it was her body that he was violating. Regina grasped her face with her hands, trying as hard as she could to push the memories of that horrible night out of her mind. If this is what having such a memory felt like when her heart wasn't even in her body, she told herself that she would never put it back in again. She was sure that her heart would give out at the intensity of that type of pain. If she would ever put it back in, it would be for one reason, and for one reason only. To remember Daniel, and to feel the love again that she still felt for him. If only for a few seconds, feeling her love for Daniel would momentarily ease the pain. Regina tried as hard as she could to pull herself out of the thoughts that she was having of the king and Snow. Just as she had begun wiping the remaining tears from her face, she heard someone come in the room.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?" said the small voice of a woman.

Regina turned around and saw that it was Rose, one of her servants.

"I've come with the message that the king will be expecting you downstairs in the ballroom in 5 minutes, but it appears that you may need more time. Have…..have you been crying?" Rose asked with a genuinely concerned look on her face.

Although it appeared to Regina that everyone in the castle was oblivious to the fact that she was miserable, Rose had taken notice. She had noticed that for some reason, whenever she found Regina to let her know that the king was currently waiting for her in their bed chamber, a quick flicker of what appeared to be fear would show in the queen's eyes. She also noticed the wince that Regina tried to pass off as a smile whenever Snow would call her, mother. She could tell that Regina was unhappy, but what was she to do about it? She was nothing but a servant, and it was not her place to get into the personal matters of the people that she served. Especially those of the royal family. She once again studied the queen's face. It was clear that she did NOT want to go to this ball. Regina took a deep breath and put on the fake smile that she was beginning to get used to putting on.

"No Rose, more time won't be necessary. I was just…...weeping with joy thinking about how happy I am to be attending my first ball as queen. Being the king's wife, and being Snow's new mother, it has all just made me so…happy".

Happy. Regina's eyes stared off behind Rose in almost an empty daze as she said the word. The word felt odd coming from her lips. Regina felt so disconnected from that word as she was convinced that happiness was something that she would never experience again for the rest of her days. Her chance at happiness lied dead with Daniel in his grave.

"Are you sure your majesty?" Rose asked, noticing the look in the queen's eyes.

The expression on Regina's face told a completely different story than the answer that she had just given her. However, it wasn't her place to question the queen.

"Alright. Shall I inform him that you'll be right down?" Rose asked.

Regina looked at Rose again, her eyes heavy with sorrow.

"Yes. I'll be right down.", Regina replied trying to sound happy.

Rose smiled at Regina and left the room. She felt terrible about not comforting the clearly distressed queen, but she didn't know what to say. So she simply walked down the long hallway and made her way to the ballroom to inform the king that his queen would be arriving to the ball shortly. When Rose was gone, Regina turned back around to face herself in the mirror. She took in a deep breath as she looked at herself in the beautiful gown that she wore. It had a high cut hiding her chest, but it was tight fitting around her waist. The bottom of her dress was enormous in width, and way too flashy for her simple taste. She was covered from head to toe in diamonds, from the long sparkling earrings that dangled from her ears, to the enormous necklace and diamond bracelets on her wrists. She looked up at her face. She had to try to appear happy before she walked into the ballroom. She had to mask the sadness and the desperation that radiated through her eyes. Her mother would be so proud. So proud to see her daughter standing in such a beautiful gown, covered in expensive jewelry, and getting ready to attend her first ball as the queen. Most of all, she would be so proud to see Regina pushing aside the agony and sadness that she felt, to behave more maturely and to mask it, just as she had to do when she was Regina's age.

Regina could hear her mother's words echoing through her mind. 'Love will cause you nothing but pain and sorrow, but power… power will get you everything that you've dreamed of.' Regina thought about her mother's words as she took a few more seconds to look at her reflection in the mirror.

"Love is weakness. Power is everything", Regina recited to herself.

And with that, Regina took a deep breath and turned around towards the enormous doors of her room. She began to walk down the hallway, and stopped when she reached the top of the staircase of the ballroom. As she looked down at her 'loyal' subjects, and then at the king and his daughter, she knew that it was time for her to stop feeling sorry for herself. It was time for her to put on the face of the woman that she was now destined to be. Never again would she put on the face of the desperate, heartbroken Regina, but she would put on a new face. ( Or a new mask). The face….. Of a Queen.